This blog's main topics are the political situation in Tunisia and all the activities surrounding the election of the Constituent Assembly that was held on October 23rd 2011. You will also find interviews and discussions that I conducted with politicians and bloggers from the Revolution. All this from a Canadian perspective in Tunis.

jeudi 3 novembre 2011

Will Canada-Tunisia relations be affected?

This is the topic I have been most talked about since
my arrival in Tunisia two months ago. I waited some time before addressing it
because I hoped the Canadian government would reach an agreement with Tunisia
in time for the October 23rd election offering all Tunisians in
Canada (more then 15,000) the real opportunity to vote. Unfortunately it wasn’t
the case and it’s all very unfortunate and especially difficult to justify. For
those not aware of what I’m alluding to, here is a summary of the facts.

On September 15th, the Canadian government sent
a diplomatic note to Tunisia’s embassy in Ottawa advising them of their
decision to not allow Tunisia to open voting booths on its territory for the
election of the Constituent Assembly on October 23rd. The reason being that Canada refuses to allow another country to create
an extraterritorial electoral riding on its soil.

There are 18 out of the 217 seats in the Constituent
Assembly that represent electoral ridings outside of Tunisia and two of them include
Canada. In short, the Canadian government doesn’t automatically oppose opening
voting booths; it refuses to do so when the request involves it being part of a
foreign electoral riding.

Canadian and Tunisian foreign ministers,

John Baird and Mohamed Mouldi Kefi.

Tunisia is not an exception to the rule as Canada has systematically
refused such request since 2006. As an example, Macedonians living in Canada
were unable to vote in the June 2011 general election held in their country.

This being said, Canada’s position hasn’t changed
since the September 15th official announcement in spite of rumours
to the contrary circulating in the media. From the very beginning, Tunisians
could vote in their embassy in Ottawa or at their consulate in Montreal (a
second site in Montreal belonging to the Tunisian government also served as a
voting booth).

According to international law, embassies and
consulate offices aren’t considered to be in the host country, but are seen as
being part of the foreign country’s territory. Therefore, to prevent Tunisians
in Canada from accessing their
embassy or consulate and be able to vote, the Canadian government would have
had to close them completely which is an almost unimaginable scenario.

Therefore, Tunisians did vote in Ottawa and in
Montreal on the 20, 21 and 22 of October as was expected all along.
Nevertheless numerous people were unable to vote because they live too far away
from Montreal or Ottawa. With mail-in or electronic voting not being an option,
few Tunisians living outside of southern Ontario or Quebec actually voted. This
probably explains in part the low level of participation in the district that
includes Canada compared to other extraterritorial districts.

Now, we can ask ourselves why the Canadian government
opposes the country being included in an extraterritorial electoral riding. According
to the foreign affairs ministry, this would be « a matter of Canadian sovereignty». But if you look closely at the facts, how can this
in any way actually affect Canada?

Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of

Canada and leader of the

Conservative party.

In my opinion,
this is a very good question to which there doesn’t seem to be a clear answer,
for the simple reason that it wouldn’t really change anything. Personally I don’t see how Canada’s sovereignty would be affected by the
election of a foreign representative. This elected official couldn’t in any way
have any kind of influence on the daily life of a Canadian. At least I can’t
see how. The only thing that person would be is a voice for the Diaspora in the
Tunisian parliament.

This simply seems to be an ideological refusal on the
part of the Canadian government, a way to create a crisis where none existed
before. It’s worth mentioning that the main opposition parties in the House of
Commons (Liberals, Bloc Québécois and New Democratic Party) have expressed
their disagreement with the position of the Conservative party who has a
majority in Canada’s Parliament. In Quebec’s National Assembly, all parties
unanimously voted in favour of a resolution condemning the Conservative party’s
decision.

In Canada’s embassy in Tunis, you could feel that the
subject matter was problematic and that no one wanted to paint themselves in a
corner. A Canadian diplomat stated « Canada supports the democratic transition
in Tunisia but we cannot allow another country to create an extraterritorial
electoral riding on our soil. »

It is a strange decision when all the facts are
considered. Tunisia is the first country to revolt and depose a dictator in the
mist of the Arab Spring. It accomplished all this without violence unlike other
countries where circumstances seem more difficult. In addition, a democratic, transparent
and peaceful election ensued which is not the case with some of its North
African and Middle Eastern neighbours.

At worse for a politician, wasn’t this a perfect opportunity
to score political points and declare to the media that « Canada will do all
that it can to support democracy in Tunisia and facilitate voting for Tunisians
living in our country » ?

Would it not be possible to envision an exception for
Tunisia when considering the particular circumstances and the advantages for
western countries to see democratic governments in the Middle East? Obviously,
this isn’t the case. Like in many other important areas, all will soon be
forgotten and the focus will move on to another subject. So is life.

Canadian ambassador to Tunisia, Ariel Delouya.

Will relations between Canada and Tunisia be affected?
I don’t believe so. How can Canada sanction a newly elected democratic
government when it routinely negotiated with the previous dictator? It would be
absurd.

One of the only solutions would be for Tunisia to
implement an electronic or mail-in voting system. For future elections, they
could try negotiating with Canada again, but there is little reason to believe
that the present government would change its position.

Canada will be confronted with a very similar dilemma
in the near future. This time the Conservative government’s decision may
engender a much greater reaction because the request will come from a richer
and more populous nation with whom Canada has excellent relations, France.
France has recently changed its electoral rules whereby Canada and the
United-States are now part of a new electoral riding for the 2012 election.

Will Canada refuse France's request for an extraterritorial electoral riding on its soil? For the moment, nothing leads us to believe that it will do so since a representative from the foreign affairs ministry stated that Canada doesn't foresee any exceptions. Meanwhile, Alain Juppé, France's chief of diplomacy, is confident that a solution can be found. Another diplomatic conflict in the making... but one that will be harder to sweep under the carpet.

Qui êtes-vous ?

I am currently completing a bachelor’s degree in law as well as an MBA at the University of Sherbrooke, situated in Quebec, Canada. Even though I have no journalism background and no real experience in international affairs, I wish to bring to you, via this blog, as much information as I can about Tunisia and the first free election that was held October 23rd 2011. I also shared interviews and meetings that I had with various political figures and bloggers from the Revolution. The January Revolution in Tunisia that sparked the much larger Arab revolt was started by local bloggers who were not afraid to state what was really going on in their country. The situation was different in October 2011; much calmer than it was a couple of months before. The blog that I wrote is inspired by these bloggers and their contribution to the uprising in Tunisia. I wish to thank Marcus McCormick, Carole Gagné, Marco Ferraro and Bernard Bujold. Without them, the blog would not have been possible.